A view from the Tower of Viborg Cathedral 1902

Poul S. Christiansen made this painting – A View from the Tower of Viborg Cathedral – from up high, with oil on canvas, probably en plein air, where he carefully observed the landscape before him. I can imagine the artist up there, trying to capture that hazy light across the water. It's all about layering and mixing, brushstroke after brushstroke to create the illusion of depth and atmosphere. It's the way that he builds up the paint, so thin in some areas and thicker in others, almost crusty on the stonework in the foreground. The red rooftops are so tactile. There's a gentle rhythm that guides your eye across the canvas. I wonder, was he thinking about Corot or maybe even some of the early Impressionists, trying to find a balance between observation and personal expression? It seems that the artist takes part in an ongoing conversation about how we see and interpret the world around us.